Trauma Focused Therapists in Fort Walton Beach, FL

Are you stressed? Sad? Anxious? Overwhelmed? Angry? Turning to unhealthy solutions to manage these painful feelings can seems like the only option. Are you a survivor of trauma and stuck in unhealthy thinking patterns or old behaviors that no longer serve your goals in life? Maybe you have even engaged in counseling and been left feeling unsatisfied with the outcome. Trauma takes many forms, and ALL of them can create stuck points. Depression, grief, anxiety, addiction are often connected to our experiences

Do you feel stuck? Do you feel as if you’re surviving rather than thriving? Living life like this can be exhausting, but there's hope through therapy. Therapy starts with looking inwards, and I believe one of the bravest things you can do is begin to understand your own story. I want to help you with that while also creating a new narrative for you where there is optimism, confidence, trust, and safety.

Congratulations on taking the first step to make positive changes in your life and your relationships. Whether you or your relationship is in crisis, or if you seek change, there is hope. I am committed to helping individuals and couples improve their lives and their most valued relationships. I am passionate about helping individuals overcome personal challenges and tailor my counseling approach to match the needs of my clients thereby empowering you to create the life you have always dreamed of. My work with couples utilizes the Gottman Method Couples Therapy which can enhance your relationships in just 3 sessions.

If you are experiencing anxiety, depression, or stress, I am here to help. In addition, I have experience working with military families and service members. I have helped clients with military unique stressors, combat trauma, sexual assault trauma, nightmares, hyper-vigilance, irritability, and anger. Besides treating PTSD, I have also assisted clients with anxiety, depression, family issues, life stress, parenting challenges, and men's issues. I am trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing), which is an evidenced based modality for treating PTSD and trauma.

Making the decision and moving forward with seeking therapy is a huge step and usually, it’s the biggest challenge in therapy. From the moment you step through my door, you’ve already got someone in your corner. I take pride in offering a supportive, calm, accepting, and safe environment for my clients. Today’s environment makes it more difficult for us to find ways to create healthy coping skills. We will work together to identify thought patterns and behaviors, process your emotions, and explore your values and beliefs. We’ll build those healthy coping skills together. It may not always be easy, but it will certainly be worth it.

Feeling sad, depressed, overwhelmed or anxious? Afraid your marriage won’t last, or your child’s grades are dropping? Life experiences trigger a cascade of painful emotions, limiting beliefs, and destructive thoughts and patterns of behavior that can seem impossible to resolve. Together we'll use methods to understand and remove obstacles and limiting beliefs that prevent you from living.

Dr. Ana Santana is a Bilingual (English and Spanish) Licensed Clinical Neuropsychologist, for the state of Florida. She specializes in psychotherapy, neuropsychological evaluations, psychoeducational and vocational rehabilitation psychodiagnostic testing for job-related recommendations. She has received extensive bilingual training conducting neuropsychological evaluations with neurologically impaired outpatients and inpatients, with a diverse clinical diagnosis including traumatic brain injury; polytrauma; cerebrovascular accidents and a variety of neurological and medical disorders. Her approach to psychotherapy is cognitive behavioral therapy, solution-focused and empirically based treatments. Within her approach she integrates therapeutic modalities that work best with the treatment needs of the individual.

I can help you use your strengths to meet your goals. Let's engage in a you-focused, judgement free, empathetic, skillful and goal directed conversation. Let's work through the dark emotions together. With support it can once again feel safe to rekindle hope and reprocess the felt memories that stick. We will focus on your goals and view you as capable with strengths. Hope and healing is possible.

I love it all - You need help with your childrens' behaviors? Communicating with a spouse? Just had a bad breakup? Want to learn some coping skills? I do it all. I can help you navigate what you may be going through - deployments, getting back into the swing of civilian life, questioning your sexuality, loss of passion in a marriage, children acting out in school, life... I have a huge heart to help others, especially when it comes to communication, boundaries, child behaviors, sexuality, & more! I can help you find your voice, learn what you're feeling, & get back to feeling like your authentic self.

Serving Florida and Kentucky residents - I am an Army Veteran as well as current spouse, so I also can relate to the military lifestyle. All are welcome as my clients! Many people come to therapy with many years of experience in therapy or maybe for the first time. As a client of mine, you can ensure you will find a safe space, free from judgment.

I became a Social Worker because your life is worth my time! I have experience in and enjoy working with all different ages as well as all different types of issues. You are not alone in your journey and I am here to help! I specialize in Substance Use and can help you on your journey to sobriety.

My desire as a therapist is to help others discover the joy in living. I believe that those burdened with traumatic or distressing life events can find hope, healing, and freedom. Many high-performing, intelligent people secretly battle anxiety, depression, and trauma/stress, and they become overwhelmed trying to handle it alone. The mask of perfection smiles that "everything is ok," while the true person feels lost, drained, and confused. If you or a loved one are having difficulty navigating life due to upsetting, stressful life experiences, therapy can provide opportunities to breathe deeply again and look forward to a new day.

Your Empowering Solutions (Y.E.S), every “YES” in your life is associated with demands of time, commitment, rest and focus. When we run into challenges it can be so tough to develop a plan that contains self-love, empowerment and confidence. For those who have been victims of interpersonal violence (domestic violence, sex assault, survivor of childhood trauma or assault) or a traumatic experience. My 15 years of experience offers recognizing patterns, expressing emotions, communication skills and setting boundaries Together we will create a plan, of ways to cope, heal, and live a high performing life!

We want the most life has to offer. At times, circumstances, habits and trauma does not serve us well.... we wake up to find we aren't where we thought. If you're here, you are not alone. Colleen’s compassion, honesty, knowledge and transparency enables you to uncover your own abilities to cope, heal, and move through challenges. Colleen’s strengths include breaking down issues into manageable pieces to empower patients to move toward healing. She uses evidenced based methods like CBT and is also a Certified EMDR trauma-recovery therapist.

If you need help, I am here. Whatever your mental health is I am here to support you. I can help with grief, PTSD, anxiety, depression, dissociation, bipolar, body images, and a variety of ailments. I am transparent in the processes I utilize with clients and can adapt to any and all situations accordingly. I am here for you and want you to become the best version of yourself through the use of varied therapeutic processes; mindfulness, self-havening, audio therapy, hypnotherapy, VNS activation, and autogenics as well as EMDR.

Life throws curveballs, beautiful and brutal, and we all need a teammate sometimes. Let's navigate yours together. Your story is yours alone, and it deserves a supportive, confidential space to unravel and understand. If daily life or relationships feel overwhelming, therapy can be a powerful tool to discover deeper meaning, tap into your strengths, and heal from past wounds.

Life's unexpected twists and turns can leave us feeling lost, but having someone who offers support without judgment can make all the difference. Creating a safe haven where individuals can freely express their emotions is both an honor and a privilege. If you're facing challenges and feel stuck, know that you don't have to go through it alone. As a former Army soldier and an Air Force spouse, I understand the anxiety and uncertainty that often accompany life's "hurry up and wait" moments. I believe this shouldn't extend to mental health—we deserve proactive support.

The ideal client is an individual who desires help. I am not going to work harder than anyone to better themselves. You have to be willing to do the work with me. This work is hard. It is not fun to talk about things that you have struggled with and I deeply understand this. The reason I got into counseling is that I was forced to go to counseling as a child and refused to engage. It was not until I was a teenager and made the decision to ask for help, that it made a difference. Your desire and passion to want to make a difference in your life matters. I can help you on your path.

As a registered mental health counselor intern, I passionately advocate for self-care and mental wellness while working collaboratively with clients to empower and build resilience and achieve mental health goals in a safe, empathetic space for healing and self-empowerment. I am prepared to assist individuals in coping and managing emotional, behavioral, and psychological challenges. What is an LPC Intern? Click on the above acronym LPC to find out more.